Princess Dolls

My mom bought my daughter these dolls. . . these were her first princess dolls. These are also small so we take them when we travel or in the car and they are carried in her purse. These ones came with removable shoes which are choking hazards (I took them out of the package and never gave them to her) but the newer ones come with the shoes painted on. You can also buy them in bigger sets that come with multiple dresses and other accessories.

Strawberry Shortcake

I'll admit it, my daughter is spoiled. It is so much more fun to buy her toys! These dolls smell so good. They are small and so they are something I can pack in my diaper bag or purse for her to play with. My daughter also has her own little purse she frequently carries around and puts these dolls in. I grew up with Strawberry Shortcake so I think these are really cute.

Big Sister/Little Sister dolls

I just found these dolls at Target a couple weeks ago. My daughter said "please mommy can I have this, please please please" and it was so cute. I think they are really cute dolls. The set comes with a bottle for the baby and a comb for big sister.  Very cute!

Etch a Sketch

Etch a Sketch is a good toy for a quiet bag or for travel. They come in regular size and travel size and we have two of the travel size. The kids loves to take them in the car and to church and I love that they keep the kids entertained and quiet. I used to play with an Etch a Sketch as a child and now and then I'll use my kids' to make a picture for them.

Doodle Pro

These come in all different sizes. We have multiple sizes (for travel, for church/quiet bag/and full size). They are fun for kids of all ages.

One Dollar Foam Swords

These foam swords make their appearance in the dollar spot at Target multiple times a year. I  bought enough for my kids and a couple friends and then a few more to store in case they break. They are fun for the kids and they don't hurt. I've had a few sword fights with my kiddos. It is fun!

Little Tikes Tball

This is a great set! My son used this tball set so much and got so good that he eventually hit is so hard that he broke it and we had to get rid of it. We had it for 3 years! It was great! The listed age range is 2-6 years old and it is pretty accurate. It is a fun set for all ages. I recommend this to all my friends who want to get a tball set.

Grow to Pro Basketball

The Grow to Pro basketball hoop is a wonderful basketball hoop and my kids have lots of fun but it was really hard to put together. It took my husband and I awhile to get it together. It was not easy! I originally bought the smaller Little Tikes basketball hoop (it does not go up as high) but my son out grew that really fast so we had to upgrade to the taller hoop. It is adjustable so it will grow with your child's height and shooting ability. We never put water in the bottom but we keep ours in the basement so we haven't had problems with it tipping over due to the wind. You would need to fill it with water or sad if you were going to keep it outside (although it does not tip over as easily as the smaller Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball Set).

Bath Baby

Target sells these bath babies. SUPER CUTE! I just bought one for my daughter's friend as a birthday present. They are 12.99 but I've seen them on sale for as low as 8.99. The doll is wearing a removeable diaper and t-shirt and comes with her own bath towel. She can go in the bath with your little one. She comes with a few bath toys as well. I also used this as a potty training doll because when the water drains out it looks like she is using the bathroom. I've seen this doll with brown eyes and blue. Very cute!!

Baby Dolls: Water Babies

My favorite baby dolls are water babies, especially for a young child. They are smaller in size. You are supposed to fill them with water so they feel like a real baby but I don't. I like that they are lightweight and I like that there isn't that bump on the baby arms where it changes from the plastic to the stuffing. You can buy them with different eye colors and even twins! Recently I've seen them at Kohl's.

Car mat/carpet/rug

There are so many different car mats out there. I recommend looking online to see before you choose one. I found this one at Lowe's. Search one out to find the one you like best and the price you like best. (They can be listed as car carpet or rug).

Bowling

 

My kids love sports. . . and they love to bowl. I found this foam bowling set at Target. It is so nice because it is soft, easy to set up (it comes with a cloth that shows you how to set up the pins) and the bowling ball is soft-not hard plastic-and has finger holes that can actually be used. We have a set from Toys R Us that is plastic and the pins get dented and the ball is hard plastic so it is loud and the holes are not deep enough that the kids can actually put their fingers in to bowl. I highly recommend this bowling set. It runs about $9.99. We set it up in our entry way and it makes the perfect bowling lane.

Ride On Car

These are the best! At one time we had three-one for each kid (that was before I had four and my oldest was too big). My kids would race around on the sidewalk, around the house, or around the basement. My 4 year old and 3 year old still love to ride around even though they are getting too tall for these cars. They are made with all different characters on them so you can pick one with your child's favorite character on it. They are also made in cars form, truck, and airplane.

Disney Princess Doll Pack Price Change

I just saw the pack of 7 Disney princess 12 inch dolls at Target today for 59.99.

(Mulan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Tiana, Belle, and Snow White)

Little Tikes 3 in 1 Sports Center

This Little Tikes Little Champs 3 in 1 Sports Center is a fun toy for young children. My sons loved to slam dunk the basketball and spin the football rattle. Even as they grew up they still loved to play with the toy with their younger siblings. It comes with a bat to hit the baseball and it spins around. It is a fun toy for young children. The recommended age is 9-24 months and I think that is appropriate for this toy.

Amazing Animals Train

This is the Amazing Animals Train (Fisher Price) but I haven't seen this around in awhile. . . but if you come across one at a garage sale or second hand store it is a great buy! The train has volume control which is important for a toy that sings, in my opinion! The train has a setting where it moves by it moves by itself. This was great for my young ones when they were crawling and could follow after the train. You push the big green button and it sings and plays animals sounds. You could also buy other train cars to attach to the back of this that came with additional animals so you could make a big amazing animals train.

Maze

I looked around for a maze toy like this and found this one at IKEA. It was the least expensive one I found and pretty sturdy. You have to put it together just like almost everything you purchase at IKEA but it is pretty easy.

Fisher-Price Mickey Mouse's Magic Choo Choo Train Set

My daughter loves Mickey Mouse and so my mom bought her this train for Christmas. It is really cute. It has two settings: set up the track and it rides along and sings or it picks up and lays its own track just like in the show. Cute toy for a kid who loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It is recommended for kids 3-5 but I would recommend it for kids 2-4.

Play Kitchen Set

There are so many different kitchen sets available but this is the least expensive one I've seen. It is about 40-50 dollars. It is kind of hard to put together. All the pieces of plastic have to be broken off so there are some sharp edges that need to be trimmed or sanded down. It is simple and serves its purpose. I like the shape- just perfect for the corner of our playroom. There are cuter ones out there and a wide variety of prices to fit every budget! It has been a good kitchen set for my kids.

Bristle Blocks

My kids and their friends love these blocks. I love them because they are easy to build with no matter what age your child is. They stick together easily. These are Parent's Choice brand from Target. They are a good quiet activity for church-just stick a few in a Ziploc bag and your kid can build quietly. They are really fun!

Kohl's=good toys

I said in an earlier post that I liked to look at the toy section at Kohl's. They have a lot of name brand toys for good prices. It is even better when you have a 15% off coupon. I find a lot of the toys I get for gifts there. So if you are shopping at Kohl's go back to the toy section and take a look. You can get some great deals for presents!

Disney Princess 12 inch Dolls

I'm so excited-I found Ariel (not pictured above because it is stored with the other christmas gifts)! My mom bought my daughter the Cinderella, Mulan, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Snow White 12 inch dolls last year for Christmas but could not find Ariel. I've been searching ever since. Target has them in the display case in their store. Maybe you've seen it, you spin the dial and then push the button and you hear that princess sing (my kids love it and spin it around and around and around). Anyway, I have never found Ariel but last week I found her at Kohl's. Did you know they have a good selection of toys at Kohl's? I find all sorts of stuff there for good prices-plus usually they have 15% off (or more) coupons you can use as well. She is not the same Ariel that is displayed at Target. . .I have not seen that Ariel anywhere, including an extensive search online. This Ariel is the one that is sold at WalMart, Kohl's, Meijer, and Toys R Us. She is in a dress but you can also find a sparkle Ariel as a mermaid. The most cost effective way to buy the princesses is to buy the big pack at Target. These dolls are about 9.99 a piece and you can get the whole set, I think it is 6 or 7 dolls (which includes Tiana from Princess and the Frog) for 62.99. Some sets have Ariel as a mermaid and others have her in a dress.

A Prince for Your Princess (12 " Dolls)

My daughter is in love with all things Disney Princess. Last year my mom bought her several of the 12 inch (Barbie size) princess dolls. Well this year I was searching online and found the prince dolls are sold 2 for $20 at http://www.disneystore.com/. They have a prince doll for every princess!!!! .com
I got a couple (for Christmas this year) to match up with her princess dolls. I'm so excited for her!! :)

Barbies and Ken

Have you ever noticed that there are a bunch of different barbies and hardly any ken dolls? There aren't a lot of clothes sold for Ken dolls as well. My daughter wants a barbie and ken (mom and dad dolls are her obsession) and the limited number of kens sold are ugly. So I search out ken dolls on eBay. There are dozens of sellers on eBay who sell ken dolls and ken clothes. Amazon is also a good place to search for ken doll clothes as well. My favorite Ken is the sparkle groom ken that my daughter got in 2009 for Christmas. I've found several more that look similar and now we have some Ken dolls to go with all the barbies we have.

Lego Duplo

My kids love Lego Duplo blocks and I love them because they are not small! They are the perfect size for children who are multiple ages. I found a Lego Duplo dollhouse for my daughter and she loves it while my boys love playing with the tractor and truck duplo blocks. They are fun toys to play and build with. You can find various sizes of sets as well or buy a tub of blocks for more creative fun.

Pictures copied from Toys R Us website

Fisher Price Loving Family Dollhouse

My daughter loves to play with dolls. We were given an older version of this dollhouse and she loves it. She loves to make a family with her dolls. She has a daddy, mommy, brother, sister, and a baby doll that she plays with. You can buy furniture and build a cute little house. You can also buy a minivan. It fits the dolls and is very cute but the doors fall off VERY easily. I've put the doors on so many times that now one of the back doors doesn't go back on at all. Even though it is missing a door my daughter still loves to play with it. When you push down the steering wheel it plays music. It has two built in car seats for the twin baby dolls. Very cute but frustrating to fix the door so many times! 

Calico Critters

I have not purchased this toy but I've seen it at a friend's house (and at Toys R Us) and it is really cute. . . maybe a good toy if your child likes animals. They are sold in sets and have many different animal families (dogs, bears, bunnies, cats, etc) and you can also get furniture to build a house for them. It looks really cute. For now my daughter is sticking with the Fisher Price Loving Family Dollhouse.

Fisher Price Snap 'n Style Babies

If your little girls love babies, they'll love these toys! They come with little clothes/hats that you can snap on to dress them. I'm not a favor of the snap on clothes and my daughter doesn't really play with the clothes/hats the that come with each baby. But I thought these were big enough so they weren't a choking hazard but small enough that we can take them in the car. . . which makes them a great quiet activity where you need your little one entertained but don't want to pack around a big baby doll. The highchair and crib are not flimsy. Your little one can put the baby to bed or in the highchair. . . Fisher Price also sells a bath set which is not pictured because I didn't buy that one. My daughter loves feeding the baby and putting the baby to bed so I only bought those two. They also make snap 'n  styles that are girls and pets that might be fun for your child as well.

Toy Camera

This is a great camera for kids. The flash lights up and it sounds just like a real camera. Some of the cameras talk! The cameras come in different characters. I've seen Mickey, Disney Princess, Ariel, Cars, and Toy Story. They are usually found in the party section at Toys R Us for 4.99 but I just saw them in the toy section at Meijer for 3.99!! They had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Disney Princess, and Toy Story (I think there was one or two more characters there as well). My kids love it and so do their friends that come over and play. My little ones love to take pictures just like mommy. They hold up their camera and say "SAY CHEESE!" When you stick your eye up to the viewfinder you'll see a picture/scene related to whatever character's camera you buy.

Imaginarium 100-Piece Marble Race Deluxe

We have several friends with this marble game. . . After playing with this game at his friend's house, my son asked for one for Christmas last year and got one. I think it is fun to make different paths for the marbles and so do my kids. There are directions to make several marble mazes but are too difficult for my children to do so I help make those. My children enjoy making up their own!

**It does have small pieces so you have to be careful when you have little ones.**

Shape Sorter

I really like this shape sorter. A lot of shape sorters have only a few shapes/openings. This has lots of different shapes. The wood is sturdy and my kids have enjoyed playing with this one.
(Some stores sell it with pink blocks instead of the multi colored ones.)

Train Tracks

My kids go through phases when playing with their toys. It is a good idea to put some toys away and then rotate. One example is building train tracks. We have the wooden train tracks from IKEA. They are very fun and inexpensive. These trains and others have the claim that they can be used with other brands but I have found this is not the case with the IKEA and the Imaginarium brand. We have both and they do not fit together easily. We (I say we because I do a lot of track building) love to build long tracks and make them different every time. I recommend the IKEA tracks to friends and family looking for wooden trains. My kids never got hooked to Thomas the Train and I'm glad because they are EXPENSIVE!!!!

My kids also love GeoTrax. We have a GeoTrax set and then extra tracks. We don't really use the extra tracks that often. Occasionally they'll extend the track set we have or make an additional track to play on but usually the pieces just stay in their box. I would start out with just. I think that is sufficient for playing. Also, we had to get multiple trains and remotes for each kid and don't buy two that look alike! We bought one for our son and the same one for our nephew and one remote controlled both trains. So get 2 different trains if you have more than one child playing GeoTrax together.

The Bat cave

My sons don't know much about Batman and they have never seen a Batman cartoon but they both LOVE the bat cave and have lots of the cars, motorcycles, and bad guys you can buy to go with this toy. We have several friends that have the bat cave (which is why my kids wanted one).

Great Baby Doll Stroller

This is my favorite stroller for my daughter's dolls. It is NOT flimsy like umbrella strollers tend to be.

The material is a really cute pattern! 

I found this stroller at Toys R Us.

My Opinion on the VTech VSmile

I bought my kids a VTech V-smile Cyber Pocket last year for Christmas and they love playing it but it is really starting to annoy me. I think the variety of games is better. I bought the V-smile for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse game (my kids love Mickey) and the Leapster does not offer that game. We have a Leapster as well. My annoyances with the toy have to do with batteries. The batteries don't stay tight so the game tends to freeze or not turn on. It also burns through batteries really fast!!! I tried using rechargeable ones and had to replace them the same day. Other than that my kids like both the Leapster and V-smile. We have different games for each system.

Welcome!

A friend of mine suggested I start a blog about toys. I tend to shop a lot and with four kids we are always finding new toys to buy. So this blog is an outlet for me to share with others the toys my kids love and the ones they don't! I hope it helps you find your child's perfect toy as well!